


The Avengers don't like fireworks

by mjstark



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Fireworks, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Iron Man 3 Spoilers, M/M, Mom Tony, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Tony Stark, Team Bonding, The Avengers Are Good Bros, The Avengers Have Issues, The avengers are fucked up, Tony Stark & Thor Friendship, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony and Thor are party bros, Tony is helping, but they are working through it, team as a sort of really messed up family, took canon and put it in a blender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-02-22 20:53:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13174989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjstark/pseuds/mjstark
Summary: The Avengers do not like fireworks. Tony is determined to help through any means necessary.





	1. Chapter 1

New Years Day, 8:00PM

The first year that the Avengers are in the tower for New Year’s Eve, they are all in their separate rooms, except for Tony and Thor. The fireworks had already started, despite it just being 8 PM. Natasha sat in her room, curtains closed and lights off, bunched up in a ball on her bed. She stared at the wall, blinking only with every bang that went off. Steve was trying to read a book, trying not to get lost in memories of the war. Each crack sent him flying back to the barracks. Clint was keeping his hand on his gun and Bruce was wilfully not giving up on his meditation. He couldn’t let the noises get to him.

There had been ideas for a party or to go out and celebrate but all four had declined with their own made up reasons. Tony wasn’t buying it.

“JARVIS, what’s everyone doing?”

“They are all in their respective bedrooms, Sir. Thor is in the kitchen.” 

“Boring. Get ‘em down here. Thor too.”

 

___

 

“Stark, I’m not going out-“

“I know, I know, you’ve got boring stuff to do and traumatic lives to pretend you don’t have. I get it, I get it. Luckily for you, we’re not going out.” 

Tony gestured for them all to sit down. A few rolled their eyes, but they’d grown a little accustomed to Tony’s insensitivity when it came to their pasts. It was actually, most of the time, pretty nice having someone treat it so normally. A little twisted, yeah, but it was Stark. What were you gonna do? It’s not like he’s tragic backstory free. That guy’s got more issues than Vogue and enough defensive sarcasm to feed an army.

“J, blackout.” Immediately, the windows to the outside world went black. The bangs and cracks that came with New Years were immediately gone. Tony saw everyone visibly relax and smiled. “Okay, so you’re all lonely and boring and don’t want to party, that’s fine. I can deal with that. Thor and I are gonna go party later, but I couldn’t let you guys start the new year alone.”

“I agree with the man of iron. We are family now. We cannot let our grief isolate us.”

“Uh. Yeah. That’s what I was going for too. Honor. For sure. But mainly because I can never die knowing that there are people in the world who had a shitty New Years under my roof. I mean, it’s party night of the year, guys.” The Avengers laughed, seeing straight through him and finding a guy who was really trying to help. 

That night, they watched movies and ate popcorn until midnight. Tony made them play “Gimme more” at 23:59:59 so that Britney would go “It’s Britney Bitch” right as the ball dropped and before Tony could escape, he found himself receiving an uncomfortably long hug from Captain America.

 After that, Tony and Thor really did go out, but everyone else went to bed a lot happier and a lot calmer than before.

The next day, the tabloids showed many, many photos of Tony Stark. Tony on Thor’s shoulders at a rave, of them both doing shots at a bar, and of the two of them passed out in a dumpster. That’s what the public saw.

 No one saw Tony Stark make 5 cups of hot chocolate. No one saw Tony Stark coming out of the elevator with a pile of about 20 blankets. No one saw Tony Stark going all out for the comfort of others. That was okay.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

July 4th, 3:00 PM

 

Later that year, the Avengers had an astronomical fight. An all-involved, everyone-is-yelling kind of fight. It had been brutal.

Tony was pacing his lab. 

“J, how angry is everyone right now?”

“I am not a mind reader, Sir, but Captain Rogers has punched a hole in the living room wall. Agent Romanoff is throwing knives and Agent Barton is in the gym destroying a punching bag. He is finishing up now.” 

“Bruce? Thor?”

“Meditation. Thor is out on the roof.” 

Tony paced a little longer. Fireworks would be starting soon. There was no way he could get them all down and in a good mood. He didn’t really want to hang out with any of them anyway.   
Then he had an idea. Such a good idea. 

“JARVIS, make everyone a playlist. I want hours and hours of songs for each of them. Take whatever they usually listen to in order to calm down and expand it. I don’t have time to create an algorithm for it, hack Apple Music or Spotify or something. Download the songs onto my own files. Don’t tell them.” 

Tony sat down at a workbench. 

“Also, remind me to frame the hole that Rogers punched in the wall.” 

 

Tony left each box outside each of their rooms and knocked before walking away. He couldn’t help feeling a little proud of himself. The best headphones in the world couldn’t block out the noise that was about to happen that night. Even the non-music playing noise-canceling headphones could only block about 70-80 decibels of an average firework’s 150.

Luckily, Tony was a genius. Not only had he managed to achieve this, but he’d personalized everyone’s headphones. Man, he was the best. Natasha’s weren’t the obvious black and red. He knew her secret favorite colors were silver and red, so that’s what hers were. Steve’s were a deep metallic blue with white edges and Bruce’s were purple. Clint’s were black but had little white arrows for the pause button. Thor hated headphones, but it didn’t matter because he wasn’t scared of fireworks. Instead, he left a t-shirt that a kid had given him a week or two ago. It had Ironman and Thor on it, kicking ass.

The headphones didn’t plug in. Tony had input a small AI in each so that they could tell it what they wanted to listen to. They even had a sleep mode, where the chunky bits could be removed and it could be used as in-ear headphones that took the shape of the wearer’s ear. Solar powered, beautiful, noise canceling headphones and he didn’t even have to talk to his trauma-ridden housemates in order to help them. Win-win.

 

“How do they like ‘em, JARVIS?” Tony made it back to his room around 6. He could already hear fireworks beginning.

“They have all been well-received, Sir.”

“The music? Do they like their songs?” He began getting changed. He could probably text Rhodey, see if he wanted to go out tonight. He’d be damned to hell if Tony Stark doesn’t party on the 4th. “Are they going to be okay?”

“There has not been a single skip as of yet and none of them are showing any signs of distress,” Tony smirked in victory. Take that, losers. He was definitely winning on the ‘being gracious after a big ass fight’ front.

Stark 1: Avengers: 0

“Okay. Buzz me if we have any problems.” On his way out of the tower, Thor came up and joined him, wearing the t-shirt. He patted his shoulder once and grinned down at him. Tony had his party pal back and was ready to get shit faced with the knowledge that his team were okay.

The next morning, Tony heard a knock at his door. When he opened it, there was a cup of coffee on the floor and a post-it note that read ‘a small thank you, - SR’


	3. Chapter 3

December 31st, 4:00 AM.

 

“Wakey, wakey, you lazy fucks it’s vacation time.” 

If there was one thing worse than a blaring alarm at 4 in the goddamn morning, it was Tony Stark’s voice.

Tony dragged them each out of bed individually, risking life and limb. When he was finished, he evaluated his line up of tired losers. They all stood there glaring, looking rumpled and sleepy. 

“Look at you all in your lil’ PJs. Earth’s mightiest heroes. So cute. Let’s go. You can sleep on the plane.” Tony gestured to the bags he had already packed for them and pushed them each onto the jet. For a bunch of massively powerful, terrifyingly intelligent, violently quick-witted, near-gods, the Avengers put up very little fuss. They allowed themselves to be shoed in by Tony before each collapsed in their respective places. 

 

A few hours later and they began to stir again. 

“Stark. Where the hell are we going?” Clint had to goddamn yell all the time. Everyone else sat up then too, curiosity winning over sleep.

“Wait and see.”

“We can’t just up and leave, Tony.”

“We just did, good Captain.”

“What if-“

“What if there’s a mission, what about our duties, what about blah blah blah. Worry not, little fusspots. I have sorted it all out. Tony Stark is your lord and savior.” 

“Uh oh.”

“Entertain yourselves for the day. Movies and shit. We’ll be there by the evening.” 

They, oddly enough, did as they were told. Most were touchy and anxious in the build-up to popular fireworks evenings, so an assured and confident presence will have been welcoming. For a while, they allowed Tony Stark to help them. Trust was a strange and magical thing.

 

The Avengers gathered around the door to the jet, anxiously awaiting the surprise. Mostly, they just wanted food but this was Stark, so they could be anywhere from the Himalayas to the Sahara desert. It could also all have been a massive joke and they were still in New York. Tony stood in front of the doors as they cracked open.

“Ladies… Gentleman… Barton. Welcome to Finland.”

 

“Wh-“

“Finland?”

“Fucksake-“

“Huh?”

"Oh God."

 

“I know you weren’t expecting this, which makes it so much more fun. Seriously though, trust me on this one.”

“Stark, I don’t trust you to make toast. Why are we here?”

“Clint, you fell asleep on me once. I will never forget. You trust me with your life, you sucker. Now let me _show_ you why you are here.”

The Avenger’s stepped out of the jet. Looking around, it was easy to see that they had landed in a field, very close to a small town. It was drawing near to evening time and many townspeople had come out to greet them. They were welcomed with open arms and immediately hassled down the dirt track towards the buildings.

It was nothing like the New York crowds. The people didn’t touch them much except to throw a blanket around of each of their shoulders. Their movements were of guidance rather than greed. Catching each other’s eyes among the crowd, each seemed confused but not overwhelmed. 

They were lead up onto the main street of the town. It was beautiful. In the darkening sky, the road was lit up by large yellow bulbs all the way up the street. The whole town seemed to be out, preparing and celebrating. Chairs and tables sat around and a long buffet took up some of the space. At the very end of the road, at the town center, a large bonfire was set up and ready to be lit. 

By some coincidence, the Avengers were pushed back together. They all stared at Tony.

“This town doesn’t do fireworks. At all. They banned them. I promise.” Steve nodded at his words, smiling slightly. The sky was switching from a deep red/purple to night time. Only Thor could understand all of what was being said, but Tony and Natasha could catch a lot of the words, having a good grip on other European languages and latching onto the similarities. They were bustled down the road. Many people approached them over the next hour or so, thanking and patting and stroking. Once, a little boy came up and grabbed Tony’s hand, pressing a small tin horseshoe into his palm.

Tony and Thor dealt with it the easiest. They had grown up in the spotlight, kissing babies and shaking hands and wishing well to strangers. Steve and Clint looked often uncomfortable, but Steve had adjusted well since being Captain America and Clint was very adaptable when the center of attention. Bruce and Natasha suffered the worst, having gone to all efforts in the past to avoid attention of any kind. This was somehow different, though. 

Tony had originally stuck to Natasha, helping her out if she needed it, but later he turned and she was stood in the center of the town surrounded by a group of enraptured young girls. She and they were all smiling as she spoke and one was even stroking her hair.

So then he shifted over to Bruce, resting a hand on his shoulder and looking at him with a questioning eyebrow. When Banner shifted his gaze up to him, Tony relaxed to see a look of calm on the man’s face. 

“They… I don’t understand much of what they’re saying but it’s… Thor said they talk about my work. My science.” Tony didn’t have time to respond because an old lady was taking Bruce’s hand slipping a bracelet over it. Time to check on good Captain.

Tony slid up alongside him. Steve didn’t look up from where he was high-fiving a group of boys but he did speak to him, softly.

  
“Everyone here… They’re calling me Steve. Or Mr Rogers. Steve, Tony. They’re calling me Steve.” Tony patted him once on the shoulder and walked away. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Clint flash him a wink from where he was teaching a young, skinny boy how to shoot his bow.

That left Tony, safe with the knowledge that his teammates were okay, to accept the gifts and the drinks that were coming his way and return them with hugs and pats and handshakes. Nothing felt enough. Nothing that he gave them could compensate for the love he was feeling.

As it neared midnight, the Avengers were herded together in the center. They had drunk and talked with the people of this town and now they stood on a slightly elevated platform, accompanied by who was presumably the mayor. He spoke and Thor roughly translated to them that they were being welcomed, that the people would treat them with whatever they desired, and that it was an honor to have them. 

Tony stepped forward then and, with broken but impressive Finnish, thanked the townspeople for their generosity, explained that it was an honor to be here with them and thanked them for their hospitality. Then the mayor asked them to light the fire and begin the festivities. 

Someone yelled, “To the Avengers!” In accented English. Everyone cheered.

 

It was a few minutes until midnight. Each Avenger was given a torch and they spread around the big bonfire, ready to light as the new year started. As their eyes connected with each other, the people of the town began to sing. 

It started with one man, probably drunk, standing on a table. A few more joined in and suddenly the whole town was there, middle of the night in the harsh cold, singing with a joy and peace that was overwhelming. The tune was easy enough and the Avengers began to sing too. When the countdown began, half the town counted and half continued to sing, drinks raised. 

As the year turned to a fresh one, the bonfire was lit by 6 people, who felt more warmth from the strangers surrounding them than by the huge fire that sat between them. 

After that, the party really started. Drinks flowed and music played and the town danced. The Avengers found themselves separated, each taken by hands that pulled them into the festivities. During the dancing, Tony and Steve were joined by a large group of people who held hands in a circle and spun, skipping and laughing and blissfully drunk. Tony allowed himself to get a little lost in the feeling, in the music, in the sound of Steve’s laugh and the strength of his grip on his hand.

 He saw Bruce first, on his dancing travels. He was dancing with a girl next to the band. Later, he found Natasha caught in the same circle as him, the group whipping through the streets hand in hand without a care in the world. Nat grinned at him. Thor and Clint were dancing too, with a group of other men, large pints in their hands. 

Tony stopped when Nat stopped to take a breather. She could kill a man in her sleep but to keep up with the spirits of the townspeople, that was a whole other skill. He took her by the hand and lead her towards the drinks, only to get interrupted by an older lady. She dove in front of them and grabbed them both by their sleeves, tugging the pair over to a table where another woman sat. She was talking rapid-fire as the two sat down in front of her but Tony and Natasha combined could not figure out what she meant. She gesticulated, before pulling out a small, tin horseshoe. Tony made a noise of realization and pulled out his own that the boy had given to him. Natasha had one too. 

Before anything else could happen though, Thor, Bruce, Clint, and Steve were also pushed, sweating and smiling, down in front of this woman. With some prompting, they all revealed their own tin horseshoes. The woman continued to talk.

“She is going to predict our futures.” Thor explained, “It is a tradition in Finland. Mostly for fun.”

The woman nodded genially, then pointed straight at Steve. He would be first, then. He handed over his small horseshoe and the woman put it into the pan to melt it down. For several minutes, the Avengers watched it liquify. The light from the fire flickered on their faces, music, and cheers of the crowd still loud. Then, quickly, the woman tossed the molten tin into a bucket of cold water. 

She dug her hand in and held up the shape. It was large and chunky. She turned to face the shadow cast by the fire on the wall next to them.

“The shape of the metal is either directly interpreted as an omen for the future, or rotated in a candlelight to create shadows, which are then interpreted.” 

The woman nodded in thanks, then started talking slowly, eyes focussed on Steve’s metal. Thor continued to talk on her behalf.

“Captain, she says your longing is relinquishing. The ache you have felt for so long will continue to dissipate. She is saying that you have found new loyalty, new friendship. She says to draw strength from elsewhere, to draw strength from those new friendships. You will find love. Not this year, maybe. Maybe not the year after, either. Your future self and your past self will make peace and the balance will restore you.”

Silence followed for a second or too. Steve only nodded. The woman took Natasha’s and melted it down. Threw it into the bucket. Natasha’s metal was thin and stretched out, twisted around. Thor translated again.

“Fear has taken control of you for too long. Embrace your anger before it festers much longer. Let it burn out and let the space remaining be filled with belonging. It is never too late to begin building yourself. Your suffering does not have to be an obstruction when it can be a building block.” Thor’s voice spoke softly over the woman’s. Natasha looked her dead in the eye as she spoke, she smiled slightly at the end.

Thor went next, but no one knew what he heard as he did not need a translator. His metal came out similar to Steve’s, but with a hole in one side. Tony caught phrases like bravery and strength, as was to be expected, but startled a little at the words ‘protection’ and ‘mother-like’.

With Clint’s metal, the woman looked at it for a minute before speaking. His metal was in 3 or 4 clumps, connected thinly. 

“Your secrets not necessary. The truth will come out and you will find stability.” Was all that she said. Ominous.

Bruce’s came out in two pieces. One thick and heavy, one splattered and stretched out. Thor translated it quietly to him, as they were sat close together. All the others only caught snatches. Strength and fear.

Lastly, the woman took Tony’s. They had gathered quite a crowd by this point, each person bending towards the woman as she examined it.

“Your grip is strong. All that you have held on to through the… black soil. The Ash. Your suffering is not in vain. Your pain has made you who you are, Stark. You have always strived for more, never allowed yourself to settle. Betrayal has wounded you deeply but you have love to give. When you receive love again, when you feel warmth again, it will feel foreign to you. It will all be worth it.” 

After that, Tony patted Thor’s shoulder, handed the lady something that the other’s couldn’t quite catch, then was off again. Dragged into the crowd to dance and drink some more.

The rest of the evening went off without the slightest hitch, disregarding the one time someone set a chair down too heavy, causing a light bang and for Clint to almost draw a weapon.

 

 

For many of the Avengers, that night was the best New Years they’d ever had. The townspeople saw them back into the jet as the sun began to come up. They cheered goodbye, passing over last minute gifts and food for the journey. Each Avenger stood as the doors closed and waved. As it took off, each of the team approached Tony, thanking him in their own words and ways, before collapsing into sleep.

 

Tony stood over them, catching Steve’s eye before with a rare, warm, real smile before settling into the pilot’s seat.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> went way overboard with the future predictions but idc lol


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cheeky b99 references

 

July 4th, 2:00 PM

 

The Avengers were almost expecting it. Predicting what the unpredictable Stark would do next. The day dragged into the afternoon and the team was beginning to get twitchy and moody, searching for their headphones. Until his voice came on over the speakers in their rooms. 

“You know what’s coming. Outside, 5 minutes. Comfy shoes, please.” 

They obeyed, except for Clint, who was 6 minutes. Luckily, Tony was 7, wearing a black t-shirt and combat pants. From there, Happy greeted them and the team warily climbed into the limo. 

“Where are we-“

“Steve, Captain, Capsicle, Capitan, you know I’m not going to answer.” 

“What if it’s an order?”

“First of all, Steve, you know it turns me on when you order me around. Let’s keep it professional, please. Second of all, no. Fuck you” Steve rolled his eyes and the conversation continued until they finally pulled up, hours later, in what looked like an abandoned town. 

The others took in their surroundings, barely noticing Tony as he unloaded a bunch of… guns from the trunk.

“Stark-“

“Paintball guns, Rogers, keep your panties on.” The others gathered around, suddenly very interested. “Here are the rules: Three shots and your out. Limited ammunition, but that’s about it for rules. You win by killing the most and getting killed the least whilst using the least amount of paintballs. Free reign of the whole town, game 1 is a free-for-all, game 2 we’ll be in pairs and game 3 is teams. Here’s a map, you each have 2 minutes to look at it. I got JARVIS to choose the place and Happy to drive without me knowing. I know as much as you do. J will keep score.” 

After he had all the guns out and in a pile, Tony handed Clint a bow and a whole bunch of weird paintball arrows. Steve was allowed a smaller version of his shield on the condition that he can’t throw or otherwise incapacitate anyone with it. Bruce was given the option to not participate in the free-for-all and to act as a guide and ‘man in the chair’ for the team games, but he assured them that a paintball wouldn’t trigger a Hulk-Out and was permitted the paintball canon for his troubles. Natasha also was allowed first choice of the weapons as she didn’t get a special toy. Thor was allowed to use his hammer for flight but nothing else.

“What do you get?”

Stark grinned and pulled out a piece of tech that quickly expanded to cover his forearms and palms, as well as two more that covered his feet and quickly lifted him a foot off the ground. 

“That’s so not fair-“ 

“Relax, Barton. The gauntlets are only paintballs. There’s no targeting system and the repulsors in my feet are in night mode so flight is limited. Plus I don’t get JARVIS” He added when Clint looked like he was going to disagree again. Everyone else nodded in agreement. When Steve called that the game would begin in 5 minutes, they disbanded. It was night time now and they were left to plan and find a position.

 

 

The games were amazing. All of their skills, pitted against each other, in a stress-free environment. Each got to exacerbate their stress, got to practice their skills, do the things they were good at without the threat of death in the event of a loss. It was amazing. 5 of the most competitive people on Earth (and Bruce) in a tournament of paint. 

Tony’s favorite moment of the first game came right at the end. They’d found themselves in a Mexican stand-off, each with only one life left. 

“Stand down, Mr White.” Stark had said. The reservoir dogs reference went almost unnoticed until Bruce, who seemed uninvolved in the standoff but stood close, spoke up.

“C’mon, guys, nobody wants this. We’re supposed to be fucking professionals!”

Thor had looked over, confused at the continued reference and Clint shot him, who then got shot by Steve. Steve was shot then by Bruce. Tony shot Bruce and also Steve (just for the fun of it) so then it was just he and Natasha left, pointing their guns at each other.

“Stark, you wanna go through with this?” Natasha smiled, “I can make your life hell.”

“Yeah? Well, I can make the kettle never fully boil for you so you can only have tepid tea.” Natasha took a step forward, gripping both of the guns in her hands tighter.

“You wouldn’t dare.” The others stood watching, giving them a wide berth in case something exploded.

“You know I would.”

“I’ll shave your head in your sleep.”

“Jokes on you, I never sleep.” Tony took a step forward as well. They were far too close together. Whoever got shot was going to _hurt_. Luckily, both of them had been shot countless times and knew how to handle it. Which was a little twisted, but y'know.

 

“Fuck’s sake guys would you just-“ Natasha and Tony shot Clint at the same time, cutting him off. In the second that followed, four things happened.

 

  1. Natasha shot Tony in the nipple.


  1. Tony shot Natasha in the head.


  1. Tony screamed “My fucking nipple!”


  1. Natasha yelled “Shit!” In rage and shot Tony again. In the eye.



 

It was, technically, a dead tie. Natasha was already forming a circular red mark in the center of her forehead, preparing to bruise and Tony would not take his hand from his left nipple. Both glared at each other. JARVIS spoke up.

“Congratulations, Doctor Banner, on your victory.” Everyone yelled in shock and indignation.

“JARVIS, explain.”

“Dr. Banner, was the third last to die, shot the third most people, and made up for it by using the least ammunition of anyone.” 

“Are you telling me I shot the richest man in the country, one of the most powerful men in technology ever, and one of my closest friends, in the nipple, for no reason?” Natasha asked slowly.

“That is correct, agent.”

“Nice.” 

 

 

 

Game 2 meant Tony and Steve against Bruce and Natasha against Clint and Thor.

It was brutal. 

Clint and Thor won after Clint found a sniper spot that is now banned.

 

For Game 3, they split. Tony and Steve were the leaders of each.

 

Iron Man versus Captain America. Tony took Nat and Thor, Steve took Bruce and Clint. By the end, it was Steve and Tony left in a fight to the death. 

Tony found him in the cellar of an old abandoned house. 

“Do you ever think about the fact that the word shit is an adjective, verb, _and_ noun.” Steve spun around at his words, shield raised. Tony was, for once, one step ahead. Steve was stronger and faster than him, so he had to act fast. He shoved Steve against the wall and raised his head so their faces were inches apart. It threw Steve off completely, confusion taking over his features. Tony kissed him hard on the mouth for a brief few seconds, before bouncing back and shooting him in the chest. 

 

“You little bitch.” 

“Watch your damn mouth, soldier. I bet you say that to _all_ the girls.” Tony smirked, turned and ran out to tell Nat and Thor. 

 

 

None of them thought about fireworks the whole night. With noiseless guns and butts to kick, the avengers busied themselves with battling it out and laughing at Thor getting shot in the ass. They got home at around 8 in the morning, July 5th. As they passed Tony on their way to their rooms, they each patted him once or twice on the shoulder. Apart from Steve, who grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way. He looked him seriously in his eyes.

“Thank you,”

“No problem, Cap. It’s just paintball.” At any hint of sincerity, the wild Tony Stark will seek to flee and hide.

“Stark. _Tony_. I mean it. Not just tonight.” Tony’s eyes flickered from Steve’s to over his broad, star-spangled shoulder where his blue headphones were resting on the sofa.

“Hey, no worries.” He tried to make a break for it but Steve’s grip was vice-tight. 

“Oh, one more thing.” Steve pushed him gently against the wall and leaned in close, breath hot on Tony’s nose as he spoke, “That kind of foul play will not go unpunished.”

Tony barely had time to raise an eyebrow before Steve was gone.

 

Great. Now he was horny.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chap is a mess but i love it so

December 31st 11:00 PM

 

 

Stark was back at the Avengers tower. 

He was… not the same. To say the least. It was only a day or two ago he had fucking fought Killian and defeated the elusive Mandarin, saving the president and almost losing Pepper. Things had completely fallen apart around him and he was still back. Still back in NYC for the Avengers on New Years.

“Tony,” He turned slowly, tired brown eyes meeting Steve’s own.

“Hey Steve,” He was still heavily bruised, sporting a massive black eye that fell down and covered almost half of his cheek as well. A huge cut started at his other eye, paired with another that ran south from his hairline. Tony smiled. “What time is it? Fuck, it’s 11. J, get everyone down in the living-“

“They are already down there, Sir.” 

“Oh.” He stood up. “They’re one step ahead of me.” He almost escaped before Steve caught his hand.

“You okay?” He should’ve known better than to ask a direct question, but he tried anyway. Sure enough, Tony smiled and withdrew his hand. 

“Hunky Dory, Captain.”

 

 

“Okaaaaay, what’ve we got.” Tony wandered out of the elevator next to Steve, rubbing his hands together. He stood on the small balcony overlooking the couches were everyone, except Steve, was sat around. “We got… Supersoldier, check. Demi-god, check. ex-assassin x2, check. Science boy? Check. I think that’s about it.” He pointed at each of them in turn. 

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?” Natasha looked around.

“Check.” Steve finished, guiding Tony down to the sofas with a hand on his back. Like a child, Tony leapt out of reach and onto the table. 

“I haven’t got a plan.” He started, as if the fact that he hadn’t had time to come up with something to do for his avenging children whilst battling some psycho enhanced beings was such a terrible thing. “But” he cut across anyone’s attempts at telling him it was fine, “I _do_ have vodka!”

Everyone cheered.

“No one ever did accuse me of being much of a planner.” He jumped off of the table and onto the floor, where he sat cross-legged at the coffee table, producing shot glasses out of seemingly nowhere. “When was the last time we played a decent drinking game anyway?”

“The day before you left and every week previous to that. Last time you told us to drink every time someone swore in Pulp Fiction” Clint said, sitting next to him. The fact that most of them barely remember that night is telling enough. Thor cracked out the Asgardian sauce for the big boys and the avengers settled down to listen to whatever game they were going to play.

“J, black out the noise from outside, yeah? And tint the windows to the outside. Remember that time some guy in the building over there sold a picture of Steve pouring rum into my mouth to the press?” They all nodded, remembering the speculation over which of the Avengers it had been in the back, blurry and shirtless. 

It was Thor, obviously.

“What’s the game?” The group knew Tony. Knew that some heartfelt talk about his feelings and struggles would be a big no and hugs would probably even less welcome. 

“Something I found on Tumblr”

 

“What!”

“No way-

“Stark-“

“What’s Tumblr?” 

 

“Relax, babies.” Tony poured several shots in preparation. “It’s not even really a game. Someone’s gotta read a thing and we gotta decide who, of us, has done that, alright? Or would do it. That person has to drink.” 

“Sounds good.”

“So it’s like a team building game? Friendship games?”

“Steve, when you say that shit it ruins the game for everyone. Let us pretend we’re lone wolves and aren’t heavily co-dependent and reliant on such mortal things as ‘friendship’, yeah?” Steve nodded. 

“Okay. First one. Who is most likely to join a circus?” Clint drank without anyone having to do anything except laugh.

“Cry in a public place?”

“Thor. Easy. He cried at the fucking zoo.”

“Those animals were captive!”

“Wait, wait. What about-“

“Nope. Definitely Thor. He cried so loudly when we watched Wonder Woman that we got kicked out of the theatre” Thor grumbled something about Chris Pine before drinking.

“Okay next one! Uh… Nope. Let’s just skip this one… And that one. All of these actually…” Steve then grabbed the phone out of Tony’s hand and looked at the list before bursting out laughing.

“Listen to these. Most likely to accidentally leak a sex tape, most likely to have a million dollars, most likely to show up drunk on live TV, most likely to tell people government secrets,  most likely not shower for over a week and most likely to accidentally set something important on fire”

Tony picked up 6 shots. 

“Become President of the United States?”

“That would totally be Steve.”

“I don’t know. Steve never went to college or anything and politicians are pretty snooty. Bruce?”

“No way. Bruce has awful publicity. What about Nat?”

“Are you kidding? She’s fucking Russian."

“I’m sticking with Steve.”

“Yeah, I’m voting Steve.” Steve drank.

“Who’s most likely to punch a hole in the wall?” Wordlessly, everyone looked up to the wall. 

There, framed and labeled and dated, was the hole Steve had punched into it. It felt like decades ago.

“Who is most likely to… sleep with Captain America? Steve you’ve featured!” Tony was almost too distracted by that to realise that Natasha had pushed the shot glass over to him. “Wait why am I drinking?” 

No one answered, so Tony drank, winked at Steve, and moved on. 

“Weirdest phobia?”

“You again, Stark.”

“No way. Not being handed things is nothing. Bruce won’t eat unless the fork is a certain length!” 

Bruce doesn’t drink, but he poured himself a shot of orange juice for the occasion.

“Biggest Disney movie fan?” No one said anything as Natasha drank.

“Biggest drama queen.”

“Tony, easy.”

“No way, Romanoff. Steve’s the drama queen.”

“Hey! Clint’s the one that tried to _stab_ Thor for eating his toast.”

“It was a recurring crime! Also, Stark, ‘I am Iron Man’? How much drama do you need? You had a whole expo named after you. A tower with your name on it. When you guys took Loki, you came like ten minutes late and hacked the systems so that they played ACDC as you landed. We’ve all seen you go grocery shopping in your iron man suit!” 

“Okay, a compelling point, but what about that story you told us of Thor when he couldn’t lift the hammer. Plus, Steve also had his own show, back in the day.”

“I’m with Tony. The Good Captain is also the one with all the extra flips and twirls when we’re fighting bad guys.” 

“What! The iron man suit is red and gold! Thor has a goddamn cape and a hammer! All the lightning? Stark’s lasers and shit? This is so unfair”

“Watch your damn mouth, soldier.” Tony grinned. “Clint’s the worst. Biggest drama queen easy.”

“I’m gonna refer you all back to the hole in the wall that Steve made because he’s the most extra.”

“But Tony was the one that paid to have it fucking framed.” 

“Captain Rogers! Keep your filthy mouth to yourself.” The bickering went on. In the end, all four of them drank, Tony twice. By now, they were bored of the standard questions and skipped straight to their own made-up ones that made Steve uncomfortable.

 

“Okay. Who tops in Steve and Tony?”

“Natasha!” Steve was not looking at Tony, who cackled.

“Aw, c’mon captain. You gonna dominate me?” He lowered his voice to a sultry level, leaning in close.

“Steve would top.”

“Barton! I could top.”

“Mm. No. You’re too small. You could probably power bottom, though.”

“You’re pretty interested, huh? What about me and _you_?” Clint grinned into his glass.

“In another life, Stark. Another life where I’m not straight. We’d make a bomb-ass couple.”

“Agreed.”

“ _Anyway_.” Natasha cut in, leaning forward. “Thor, would you rather fuck Bruce or Clint.” 

Thor didn’t even hesitate. “Banner. Clint, you are too… loud. I fear you would not shut up.” 

Clint gasped but didn’t say anything. Maybe as a testament to the fact that he sometimes knew when to stop talking.

The night drew on, most of them barely noticing the fireworks outside. They drank and talked and bitched about Kevin from Human Resources who just got a perm. Feeling the word blur around them was a good feeling. It was nice having Tony back, having the team together again.

 

By 2, Tony was lying across the whole sofa. His head was next to Steve’s, who was still sat on the floor and leaning his back on the couch. Bruce was asleep, Thor cross legged in a chair. Nat and Clint were on the other sofa. Everyone was appropriately drunk.

That was when they decided to play truth or dare.

 

By 4, Thor had pissed off the roof, Clint had waxed his armpits and eyebrows, and Natasha chugged three pints of milk (and threw them up). As well as that, Tony had been forced to kiss all of them and their feet. 

Right now, they were in a tattoo parlor. Except for Bruce, who was still asleep. It hadn’t taken them long to find an open one at 4 am January 1st. Apparently, lots of people started the year off this way. 

Thor, whose face was covered in mayonnaise and peanut butter, had picked up 14 pizzas on the way and was steadily working his way through them as Steve lay there, face down on the table. 

“What do ya want?” The guy asked. He looked super dodgy but no one was sober enough to care. 

“The fucking. The fucking America flag. Big.” 

“Wait! No. Not that. He doesn’t want that.” Tony had stepped forward (wearing only sweatpants and Natasha’s bra). At first, it had seemed like he was going to save Steve from this horrible decision. “Do a dragon. A big ass dragon. But make it look like a dragon made out of the American flag.”

 

_

“He’s almost done.” 

“Wait! Before you finish I need to do something.” Tony grabbed the tattoo gun out of the man’s hands. He let him, for a reason that we will assume is because Tony Stark is rich as fuck. “Guys. I’m gonna sign his ass. I’m gonna sign Captain America’s ass.” 

 

 

 

The next day, the head of Stark Industries Public Relations cried in his chair and Steve Rogers punched another hole in the wall. That one was also framed.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

July 4th 11:00PM

 

Natasha and Clint were on a mission, Thor was in New Mexico, and Bruce was in North Dakota for reasons nobody could be bothered to find out.

Steve and Tony were sitting in the kitchen, facing each other, cross-legged on the countertops.

"Sun or rain?"

"Sun. Summer or Fall?"

"Fall. Night or day?"

"Day. Books or movies?"

"Movies. Books. I don't know. Tea or coffee?"

"Both. Tea. Baseball or football?"

"Sports are dumb. Beach or country side?"

"Beach. Desert or mountains?"

"Mountains. Less trauma. Oceans or space?"

"Space. Less trauma. Dogs or cats?"

"Cats. Same question."

"Dogs. When you were a kid, what did you want to be?"

"You. What's your favorite book?"

"To Kill a Mockingbird. What's the best advice you've ever been given?" 

"'So you're a man who has everything. And nothing. Don't waste your life, Stark'. What's your biggest regret?"

"Waiting too long. Where's your favorite place in the world?"

"Malibu. Or Italy. If you had one day left to live, who would you spend it with?"

"I... Uh. You. I would spend it with you."

 

They're silent for a while, looking unwaveringly into each other's eyes. Tony sips his drink.

"What's your favorite quality about yourself?"

"My ass."

"Tony. For real."

"My sense of humor, then. How's that? What was the last thing that made you cry?"

"Peggy's funeral. Before that, it was before the ice. Same question."

"I haven't cried since I was 8. What was the last thing that made you laugh?"

"You. What was the last thing that made you laugh?"

"Also me. Before that you, when you walked into the cupboard."

 

Once again, there's silence as they stare at each other. Steve smiles and rolls his eyes slightly.

"What's the one thing you've never done but always wanted to?" Tony asks and Steve's answer is wordless.

 

He leans forward, without hesitation, touching the palm of his hand against Tony's jaw and he presses their lips together in a gentle, easy kiss.

It's their first one, besides that one way back in the paintball game, and yet it surprises neither of them. Tony thinks that maybe he should be feeling excitement, or fear, or intensity, but all he feels is warmth and Steve's lips.

All he feels is a peace that spreads through him. He was kissing Steve and it was all that he had needed for a long, long time. It was a puzzle piece in the whole picture, and Tony was complete. Tony was complete because Steve was still kissing him with a gentle fervor that sent a rush of breathless happiness into every part of Tony's body.

This was a love he'd harbored for months. Years. This was a love so pure and effortless, so radiant and _good_ , that it left no room for doubt, or regret, or secrets. Everything was warm.

Steve decided he didn't mind these kinds of fireworks.

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

  
December 31st

11pm.

 

Tony was alone.

 

Tony was alone at the compound, and he had never hated fireworks more in his life.

 

Somewhere, deep in Wakanda, was Steve. Clint, too. Natasha. Bruce and Thor were... God knows where. And Tony was alone. Tony was alone and empty and cold.

 

In Wakanda, Steve, Clint, and Natasha sat with Scott and Wanda. Bucky and Sam were there too, and T'Challa made occasional appearances. The three of them sat in silence whilst the others talked around them.

This time, when the fireworks go off, none of the three hide from it. None of the three retreat to their rooms. They don't have their headphones. Their headphones were back in America, or broken for good. They had half of a splintered team and a long night of unwanted celebrations ahead of them.

 

Natasha sat cross-legged, staring at anyone who spoke. Clint watched his hands, twisting them with untold emotion and repressed stress. Steve... Steve stared blankly ahead, unmoving, unblinking, a restless ache and longing in his eyes that nobody wanted to address.

 

And Tony? Tony was alone.

Tony was alone and he had never hated fireworks more in his life.


End file.
